The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1887-01-28

In the inclplent stages OF the progress Of
our State great care should be taken In or.
der that Our developments may be beneficial
to succeeding generations. In the one mat.
ter of railroads, public policy In commercial
matters demands aAd lnter.commerce rela.
ton between them and In many States this
system Is fully underway. One company
must haul for another or have It's track open
to other companies upon terms prescribed
by law. And 80 II will be with the peoples
thoroughfares all over our country In time.
And railroad corporations are beginning to
! submit to the inevitable with grace and
clevernesS. There Is bin before the Leg.
islature authorizing the o. r. & N. Com.
pany to bridge the Willamette at Portland.
The Legislature should fully understand
what Il Is doing IN this case. There will be
but one bridge built for railroad purposes at
Portland and all railroads should have the
right of way overthis bridge II built. Usual.
ly these structures are built by members OF
some particular railroad corporation, but OF
seperate organization for bridge building
and all roads are charged toll for crossing
the bridge. In some cases In the east toll
as high as fifty cents passenger has been
charged for crossing bridge on the line Of
the road Freights also have this tax TO
carry. Now shippers OF the Willamette
Valley do not want to be hemmed in by
any railroad In the way OF heavy assess.
ments for such state of things might lead
to extortion. Now Is the time to say what
the conditions shall be upon which this rail. |
road bridge at Portland can be built. Have
Il done by the Legislature so the future may |
demonstrate the wisdom Of the act. II there
are Attorneys In the Leglslature,of the cor.
poration intending TO construct this bridge, II /
would be very natural for them 10 look at |
the project as lawyers rather than true and /
impartial Representatives of the peoples |
wants. Hence there should be no vested or /
exclusive rights given for building this bridge |
and the Legislators faithful TO the people |
should see that this Is not done. The right |
to build should depend on the use the bridge
Is to be put 10 under State control The
bridge Is needed. II Is necessity for every
railroad In Oregon. The terms for using
the bridge by railroads generally should be
based upon the interest on the inyeStment
that Is the cost Of construction, maintain.
ing and wear and tear. Every company
using the bridge should pay It's proportion
of this interest. Money can be had TO build
this structure for five per cent This prop.
ostion TO divide the expense would be just
to the people upon basis that the Legisla-
ture could manage. The State Is wholly
interested In this bridge, and now that we
have a national Interstate commerce law
! that must he fully tried before It's feasibility
can be determined the State should provide
for the management of this bridge In the
interest OF the people. II Is predicted that
the interstate commerce bill will be injuh.
Gus 10 the interests of tho "Northwest" II so
then comes the greater necessity for Oregon
TO control her corporate thoroughtares AZ
once. The people appeal TO the eonslderate
members OF the Legislature In this matter
and for them To see that these roads and
bridges are sustained upon their merit alone.
We think that the railroads In Western
Oregon should be fairly dealt with. They
are too antagonistic, we mean roads OF hl.
ferent ownership,to allow rates much above
living rate. Not until they are greatly
above this should they be disturbed. One
road Is In the hands Of a Receiver. II has
struggled long for an existence and has
| scarcely found II. Another road Is coming
into or rather going easteFly out of the Val.
ley as an experiment, hoping TO aid In peo.
pling the country through which Il may
pass In order to obtain traffic enough to
live. The most favorable consideration
should be given TO these roads by every
member of the Legislature, not one of
whom would put dollar into them upon
an investigation of these hazardous expert
ments. And above all should our law
makers see that the great railroad bridge al
Portland Is open TO no more favorable con-
ditions for Eastern Oregon than Western.
There are other bills that should be cen.
sidered. The repeal of the bill creating the
Board OF Agriculture Is mistake and II
should not pass. The bill creating a Board
of Public Charities Is no doubt intended to
apply more to It's officers than any body
| else. IL Is a mistake. IL ought not 20 pass.
There could be some Legislation had, that
would be an improvement upon our school
system. The bill TO prevent the use of
cigarettes by persons under 10 years OF age,
Is good bill, and would be better II II were
60 years instead of Il.
SoTouRNRR